Harry Potter and the Perfect Child
by Tasha9315
Summary: The Next Generation. Harry and Hermione are married. Their oldest son, James Potter has the perfect mix of best traits from both his parents. Aria Malfoy, Draco's daughter is in love with James but he considers her conceited, vain and arrogant. Matthew Potter feels overshadowed by his older siblings, James and Elizabeth. Harry and Hermione have to deal with an unexpected pregnancy.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own any part of Harry Potter. This is merely a fanfiction.**

**The year 2020**

Harry and Hermione have been married for 18 years with 3 kids, James Sirius, Elizabeth Lily (named after both her grandmothers) and Matthew Albus. Harry used the wealth he inherited from his father's family to buy his own Quidditch team, The Striking Stags along with his former Gryffindor teammate, good friend and now business partner, Oliver Wood. The Striking Stags whose theme colors were Sky Blue and Silver were almost undefeatable under the management of Harry and Oliver. Hermione works for the ministry and is the head of the Magical Creature Protection Department. Both Harry and Hermione also ran The Order of the Phoenix with their bestfriends Ron and Luna. The OOTP was now a ministry approved organization and now consisted mostly of members from Dumbledore's Army, the Weasleys and several younger witches and wizards like Teddy Lupin.

Matthew Potter was in his bedroom at Potter Manor thinking about the events that happened at Breakfast. He looked like a good mix of both his parents He had Harry's green eyes and Hermione's bushy brown hair which was cut short and combed with gel that the it no longer looked bushy. He knew he ought to be happy for his brother and sister, but he couldn't help feeling bad. He now found more pressure on himself to become a prefect and Headboy. Matthew was about to begin his third year at Hogwarts, while James and Elizabeth were about to begin their seventh and fifth years at Hogwarts, respectively.

It wasn't easy having perfect James as his older brother. James excelled at almost everything as he inherited the best traits from both his parents including excellent at Quidditch and DADA skills like Harry and excellent in Potions, Transfiuration and Charms like Hermione. James had Harry's intuitive intelligence and Hermione's logical intelligence. He was also studious like Hermione and scored 10 straight Os in his 5th year OWLS. He mastered the patronus charm during the summer of his third year and he transformed himself into an animagus in his 6th year. He was also the Seeker and captain of the Gryffindor team.

Elizabeth was intelligent, hardworking and studious like Hermione too and got excellent grades just like Hermione and James (except in her weakest subject, Potions). Matthew was more like Harry and had the best traits from Harry, but not from Hermione. He was excellent in Defense Against the Arts and Qudditch and was a chaser/ reserve seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. But he usually only got average grades except in Defense Against the Dark Arts. With both his siblings being prefects and getting excellent grades while he got average grades, Matthew felt more insecure and more pressured to achieve as much as his siblings. Furthermore, he felt detached from his family since Harry was the closest to James and Hermione was the closest to Elizabeth.

Matthew looked out his window. Harry, James, Ron and Ron's son Rexton (Rex) were playing Quidditch at the Potter's magnificent Quidditch pitch. He had declined joining them, citing he was tired. He loved Quidditch, but he simply wasn't in the mood.

* * *

Later that night, Hermione was pacing up and down her room looking worried as Harry entered their room. Their bed had a beautiful gold frame. The initials, HJP (which stood for both Harry and Hermione's initials) were carved largely on the head of the bed.

"Hermione, Dudley invited us over dinner on Saturday," said Harry. But Hermione was still preoccupied with her thoughts. "Mione," Harry turned Hermione around to face him and held her palms in his. "What's wrong" he asked her, her palms still gently clasped in his.

"I'm worried about Matthew," said Hermione apprehensively.

"But why?" asked Harry.

"He seemed a little upset at breakfast when James and Elizabeth got their headboy and prefect letters. I don't think he declined joining this afternoon's Qudditch game because he was tired." said Hermione.

"If he's upset he's not a prefect or Headboy, it's not his time yet. He could still be chosen as a prefect in his fifth year," said Harry a matter-of-factly.

"That's not exactly the problem. I think he feels overshadowed by James and Elizabeth. They both get excellent grades while his grades are usually average. With them both being prefects, and James being Headboy, Matthew probably feels more pressure to become a prefect himself in his fifth year," said Hermione.

"But we don't expect Matthew to achieve everything James and Elizabeth achieve. We're proud of him as he is," said Harry.

"That's what we need to make him understand. But just telling him won't help. He'd think we're just saying that out of obligation," said Hermione.

"Hermione, we'll find a way to make him understand. I'm sure Matthew will come around and is going to be just fine. Ron had similar insecurities about his brothers but he got over it and turned out great," said Harry reassuringly.

"You really think so?," asked Hermione.

"I'm positive," Harry squeezed her palms reassuringly.

* * *

On September 1st, The Potters and Weasleys went through the barrier to platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross station together. The Wesleys consisted of Ron Weasley, Luna, their kids, Rexton (Rex), Leia and Aurora who were about to begin their seventh, first and first years respectively. All the Potter kids and Rex were in Gryffindor while Leia was in Ravenclaw. James and Rex were bestfriends. Elizabeth immediately joined her boyfriend, Cameron Wood, who was Harry's business partner, Oliver Wood's son.

Harry spotted Draco Malfoy with his wife, Astoria, sending their two kids, Aria and Reggie off to Hogwarts. Harry and Draco nodded curtly at each other like they usually did whenever they saw each other. The Golden Trio and Luna hugged their kids goodbye before making their way back through the barrier.

"So, Teddy's teaching Defense Against the Arts this year, huh?," asked Rexton.

"Yup, we've never had a teacher that young before. Let alone, one that's like a big brother to us," said James.

"It would be fun to have someone young that would be more carefree. And Teddy would be lenient with us," said Rexton who resembled Ron up to his flaming red hair except his dreamy eyes from Luna.

"But Rex, as much as I'd like a more lenient professor who would go easy on the academics, it won't be fair to expect Teddy, I mean, Professor Lupin to be lenient and carefree just because he's our friend," said James as a matter-of-factly.

"I guess you have a point," Rex chuckled.

James resembled Harry except for his brown eyes from Hermione (He also wore glasses). Both James and Harry kept their messy black hair, short and neat.

"Who do you think is headgirl?," asked Matthew who joined them.

"I don't know, but I hope it's not ….," James began but before he could finish his sentence, a gorgeous girl who resembled a live-action Barbie doll with blonde hair and blue eyes made her way to the boys.

"Congratulations Potter! Guess who's headgirl?" Ariana (Aria) Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's daughter asked gleefully, her eyes shinning with triumph. As usual, she was surrounded by her giggling Slytherin girlfriends.

"Please tell me it's not you" said James, dreading the answer. Aria took out her headgirl badge, confirming his worst fears.

Aria had spent the past year flirting with him and trying to get his attention.

"See you at the prefects compartment sweetheart, where we'll be leading the school together," said Aria as she walked off with her friends. James turned towards Matthew and Rex who were sniggering.

"Well, at least she didn't ask me out this time," said James, relieved.

"Why do you constantly reject her? She's gorgeous and most blokes in our school would give their right arms to go out with her," asked Rex.

"If she was my age, I'd go out with her," said Matthew.

"If she asks me out, I'd say yes before she even finishes the question," said Rex.

"Cut it out both of you," said James indignantly. "Aria is only interested in me because I'm one of the few blokes in school that doesn't swoon over her. She enjoys the attention she gets from boys and it probably makes her feel insecure that one of them doesn't pay her the attention that she's used to getting," said James.

James and Rex headed to the prefects compartment while Matthew headed to find his friends. Whenever James found himself attracted to Aria's looks, he'd stop himself and his logical thinking would tell him not to be let himself be enticed by her looks. Despite her looks, he found Aria to be conceited, vain and arrogant. On top of it all, she was a Malfoy and he knew the brief history between their fathers.

**=Endnote=**

**Please FOLLOW the story if you want updates. **

**Please, please review. I would really appreciate feedback. I will upload chapter 2 next week. **

**And one question I would like your opinion on. Would it be weird if I pair Ginny with Dudley? Dudley and Harry are supposed to have made up in my story (and even in the actual story too where J.K. Rowling says they visit each other) and Dudley is supposed to be a changed person in my story. Plus, Harry's cousin being married to a Weasley would further link him to the Weasleys and I think it would be interesting that Vernon and Petunia have wizards as grandkids after their prejudice against wizards. But if it's too weird for Dudley and Ginny to be paired, I'll just pair her with Neville.**


	2. Chapter 2

Headboy James Potter was instructing the prefects in the prefects compartment, including Aria Malfoy, Rex Weasley, Elizabeth Potter and Cameron Wood. Hogwarts now chose 2 male and 2 female 5th year prefects per house, each year, instead of just 1. Headgirl Aria, wasn't paying attention to James. She was too busy staring longingly at him, admiring the way he spoke. There was something about him that made her hopelessly in love in him. She couldn't quite explain whether it was his good looks, brains, skills, charm or personality. Her admiration for him had turned into fancying in their second year, when her cousin, Tyler Nott tried to hex James, but James beat Tyler to it and hexed Tyler with a really funny prank spell. Gradually, it turned into love.

"Malfoy, are you paying attention? What are you looking at?" James demanded.

"Your beautiful eyes, sweetheart," Aria said dreamily. The other prefects tried to hide their sniggers and chuckles.

"McGonagall must have been off her rockers when she chose you as headgirl," James said irritably.

"She was just trying to keep up the Potter tradition," said Aria.

"What tradition?" he asked, curiosity overtaking his annoyance.

"The tradition of the headboy marrying the headgirl like your parents, grandparents and great grandparents," Aria winked.

James glared at the prefects who sniggered or made silly noises and they felt silent. Harry and Hermione were headboy and headgirl when they returned to Hogwarts after the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Look Malfoy, I'm not joking with you. Do you wish to add anything" asked James, in reference to the instructions he had just given.

"Yes, your biceps are nice," she said seductively but then realized that she had accidentally blurted out the first thing on her mind.

It was getting harder for the other prefects to hide their amusement. More sniggers and even laughs could be heard.

"I mean ….," she began.

"Malfoy!" James snapped. "A word, outside," he hissed. Aria followed him outside the compartment, grinning.

He's attractive even when he's angry, she thought.

"I'm quitting. I'm turning in my badge and McGonagall can pick a new headboy," said James, clearly aggravated and exasperated.

"What? Why?" Aria gasped.

"Because you think this is all a joke," his lips were pressed together and his face was flushed.

"Potter, I'm sorry. I swear, the last comment wasn't meant to be said out loud. I promise I'll stop. If I do it again, you can hex me," she said earnestly..

"You'll really start taking you position as headgirl seriously?" asked James, narrowing his eyes.

"Cross my heart," said Aria.

"Alright," said James. "But keep to your word."

The prefects who were peeping through the compartment window to witness the encounter between James and Aria scrambled to their seats the moment the headboy and headgirl turned their eyes to the compartment. James peered in the compartment to dismiss the prefects meeting.

James and Aria were near the train door, gathering the 2nd to 7th year students and ushering them into carriages. He saw her tell several boys off for flirting with her. This surprised him as Aria usually enjoyed the attention, but now seemed annoyed by it. James himself had his share of female attention from female students which mostly annoyed him, but not as much attention as Aria received from male students.

After the train compartment was emptied, James headed outside the train door, only to have Aria block his way by standing at the entrance, smiling her effortless smile and battling her big, sky blue eyes, both of which usually made boys go weak on their knees. She had beautiful blonde hair, nice skin and an oval face.

"Malfoy, would you please step aside," he said exasperatedly.

"I've changed you know," she said sweetly.

"Yeah, I doubt it," said James.

"So, is it still a no for going out with me?" she asked cheekily. "Just kidding," Aria quickly said when James reached for his wand from his pocket. She stepped back and walked away quickly.

Besides himself, James found himself smiling in amusement. He didn't know whether it was because she had apologized for her actions for the first time, but surprisingly, he found himself not as annoyed by her as he usually was.

"Nice figure," he thought as he watched her walk away. But he was then disgusted with himself. "Why the hell did I just think? I can't stand the girl," he scolded himself.

* * *

It was the start of term feast at Hogwarts. Minerva McGonagall (headmistress), Neville Longbottom (Herbology professor), Teddy Lupin (DADA professor) and Rubeus Hagrid were among those seated at the staff table at the Great Hall. The Potter kids and Weasley kids smiled and waved at Teddy Lupin at the staff table. He smiled and waved back at them, signaling that he would speak to them later. The first years were sorted. Draco's son, Reginald Malfoy (Reggie) was sorted into Slytherin. He had the Malfoy look down, from his platinum blond hair, pale skin and pointed chin. Aurora Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor, to the disappointment of her sister, Leia who was a Ravenclaw. She skipped happily to the Gryffindor table, tossing her red hair.

"We Gryffindors are glad to have you, little sis," said Rex Weasley who gave his sister a hug.

"I feel bad for Leia, she must be disappointed that neither of her siblings are in the same house," said Elizabeth.

"She has our cousin Dominique in Ravenclaw and she used to have Roxanne until last year," Rex shrugged.

James felt his stomach give an uncomfortable lurch at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. He had dated Roxanne for a few months in his sixth year, but she broke up with him because he was a year below her and she felt their relationship would eventually end when she left school.

After the feast, Teddy approached the Gryffindor table and was cheerfully greeted by the Gryffindors that he was close to, especially the Potters and Weasleys. He couldn't hug any of them in the full view of all the other students and teachers due to it being odd for a teacher and student to hug. This refrain was especially hard for Teddy and James who were practically brothers. Teddy was even warmly greeted by his second cousins, Aria and Reggie. Their grandmothers, Narcissa and Andromeda had somewhat made peace to the point of visiting.

**=to be continued=**

**Please FOLLOW the story if you want updates. And please, please, review so that I know where to improve. Do you feel I should show more or less of anything? **

**There's still time to make changes in the next chapter. Please let me know if there are any characters you would like to see more or less off.**

**Also, I'm still counting on reader's votes for whether Ginny should have married Dudley. Please leave a comment on that. So far I only have two opinion on it. **


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, owls and phoenixes came bearing letters for the students at The Great Hall. The Potter family phoenix, Prongs came bearing two letters for each child. Prongs was a golden phoenix with silver linings. Elizabeth untied the letters from him and handed James and Matthew their respective letters. Rex did the same with his family owl.

"My dad wrote that Kingsley Shacklebolt is retiring and my Uncle Percy is in the running to be the next Minister of Magic. The full decision would be made by the end of the year," said Rex, after reading Ron's letter.

"That's great!" said James.

"Hello son of the next Minister of Magic," Rex greeted his sixth year cousin Preston Weasley.

"Well, you're nephew of the next Minister of Magic," Preston laughed. "But it may end up being one of the other two candidates instead though," Preston said with a hint of apprehension.

Hermione had also been offered the position as one of the running candidates for Minister of Magic, but she had turned it down, preferring to stay as the Head of Magical Creatures Department. Harry might have been a good candidate if he worked full time for the ministry but he was not very fond of working for the ministry and chose to only be a part-time Auror and focus on business instead. Ron did the same and became business partners with Fred and George by opening his own wizarding games product line as an extension to their joke shop.

Neville Longbottom, Head of Gryffindor house, handed the timetables to James after congratulating him on making Headboy. James in turn divided the timetables between a few of the Gryffindor prefects for distribution.

"Great, we have our first ever Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid this morning," Matthew said elatedly to Damien, his bestfriend and second cousin, more excited about a class with Hagrid than the subject itself.

Damien Dursley was the son on Dudley Dursley and Ginny Weasley. Ginny had met a reformed Dudley at Harry and Hermione's wedding. Matthew noticed that Aria had headed off to class after distributing the timetables at the Ravenclaw table, without her usual morning 'greeting' to James.

"Hey James, are you upset Barbie doll didn't come over to say hello?" Matthew asked teasingly. "You must upset she didn't ask you at all this year," he added with mock sympathy.

James reached for his wand and Matthew ran full pelt out of the Grand Hall. Matthew was unaware that Aria did ask James out at the train.

"Wait up cousin," said Damien as he ran out of the hall to catch up with the younger Potter boy who slowed his pace just a little to allow him to catch up.

* * *

As James, Rex and their friend Lindford Stranton were heading to their potions class, they saw a first year bump into Aria, scattering their books on the floor. To their surprise, she actually helped the kid pick up his books and told him to be careful in a kind manner. Last year, when a kid accidentally bumped into her, they remembered her yelling at the kid. The three boys exchanged puzzled looks.

"Is she putting on an act for some reason?" James thought to himself.

* * *

They were early for potions, so James, Rex and a few boys lingered on the stairs that led to the dungeon, cracking jokes and chatting animatedly.

"Give it back, Caley," came Aria's voice as one of her friends came running down the dungeon stairs with a notebook held high, giggling with excitement. The boys, including James turned their attention to the fray.

Aria frantically ran behind her, but as she reached the stairs, she ran right into James, knocking him down with him lying flat on the stairs and her lying on him. He narrowly missed bumping his head. The boys standing below James had moved out of the way as he fell to avoid be knocked down themselves.

"Isn't this nice?" Aria asked admirably, gazing into his eyes.

"Noo," James said disbelievingly, trying to avoid gazing into her eyes and cursing himself for feeling butterflies in his stomach. "Malfoy, would you please get off me," he hissed.

"Sure, once you get your arms off my waist," she said seductively.

James hadn't realized that the fall had caused his arms to wrap around her. He quickly let go of her as she got off him.

"Potter, Malfoy, what's going on?" demanded their Potions professor, Romilda Vane who had just walked in.

"Aria 'accidentally' ran into James," said an amused boy from their class.

"I don't like this kind of clumsiness and foolishness in my class. 10 points from Slytherin, and 10 points from Gryffindor, ," said Romilda.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins glared at her unfair deduction of their house points.

"And she used to be a Gryffindor too," whispered an annoyed Rex to James.

The class headed to their seats as Aria irritably grabbed her notebook back from her friend.

Romilda Vane's seventh year NEWTS potions class was quite a small one with only sixteen students, so much so that there was no need to divide the classes between houses. Romilda was not particularly a kind professor and was especially mean to Harry's kids out of bitterness of being unsuccessful in wooing him.

"For you NEWTS assignment, you'll be dividing in pairs," Romilda announced.

The students moved towards their intended partners, including James and Rex.

"Not so fast. I'll be choosing your pairs," said Romilda, throwing a smug look at the progeny of Harry and Ron. "Potter, you'll be pairing with Malfoy."

James turned towards Aria who looked like she had just won the lottery.

"But professor, wouldn't it be more convenient for each pair to be from the same house? I mean, since they would share the same common room to work together and everything," James tried to appeal logically.

"Oh please Potter," Romilda scoffed. "You have the library to work in. The library only closes at 8pm each day. Work with Malfoy or lose your credit," she said with a tone that James knew not to continue arguing with.

James looked at Rex who was partially sympathetic but partially amused. Rex moved to pair with Lindford.

"Not so fast Weasley. You won't be pairing with Stranton," Romilda said menacingly.

He moved to pair with his cousin Dominique.

"You won't be pairing with your cousin either. You'll be pairing with Bulstrode," said Romilda menacingly.

Organa Bulstrode was known to be a bully and had a tough built. She gave Rex a glare that said she would like nothing better than to pound him. Rex's eyes were wide and his face was contorted as he looked at James and it was latter's turn to give former a part sympathetic, part amused look.

Aria walked towards James after class.

"Hello partner," she said.

"You are gonna be professional about working together right?" James asked hopefully.

Aria gave him an amused look.

"I care about my grades just as much as you do, Potter," said Aria coolly.

"Good," said James, relieved.

"Look forward to working with you, Potter," she winked as she walked away.

James could only hope that she meant what she said about her grades.

**=to be continued=**

**Please review!**

**For those of you who want a background on how Harry and Hermione got together, please read my story "A New Light". But I will reveal bits of how they got together in future chapters. Basically, they got together in their sixth year and never got involved with Ron and Ginny. **

**The main people in this story are James and Aria. However, there will also be a lot Harry/Hermione and the Potter family as whole would get a significant amount of highlight as a family. **

**I have decided to go with Dudley and Ginny's pairing after all. I apologize to those of you who are opposed to their pairing, but they aren't really gonna be highlighted that much anyways. I just have my own reasons for pairing them. **


	4. Chapter 4

**He guys! I am so sorry for the late update. I apologize for the long chapter, but the last segment ended up being too long and if I cut it, the chapter would have been too short. **

**Hogwarts**

James Potter and Rex Weasley were heading for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year.

"Teddy and Professor Castrell are dividing classes. I really hope we get Teddy instead," said Rex.

"Me too. Not that I have anything against Professor Castrell, but it's our final year and the only chance we have to get Teddy as a professor and it would be shame to miss it," said James.

"You will be getting Teddy," came the voice of Preston Weasley (son of Percy Weasley) behind them.

"How do you know?" asked Rex.

"I was collecting my sixth year timetable from Professor Longbottom and he mentioned that Teddy would be taking the third years, fifth years and seventh years, while Professor Castrell would be taking the second years, fourth years and sixth years. They're dividing the first years between them," Preston explained.

James and Rex looked at each other with glee.

"Oh, show some sympathy for those of us who don't get Teddy," said Preston, who had the same Weasley red hair and Weasley jaw as Rex.

"Sorry mate," said James. "But you'll be getting Teddy next year".

"Actually, Professor Longbottom mentioned that they would continue teaching the same classes next year, so that the classes don't have to switch teachers,"

"Oh well, that's too bad," said Rex with tones of mock sympathy.

"Well, cous, at least I have the more experienced teacher," said Preston pompously. "I'll see you both in the common room," he said as he walked away.

"See you cous," Rex called out.

"Do you think we upset him?" asked James.

"Nah, he's just jealous he doesn't get Teddy," said Rex.

* * *

Teddy Lupin showed up at his Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom to find the seventh year DADA class waiting him outside the classroom. Among them were James Potter and Rex Weasley. Unlike the small seventh year Potions class, 48 out of 68 students in James' year had chosen to advance to NEWTS level DADA. Hence the class was divided into two, with the Gryffindors and Slytherins having their DADA classes together. He was greeted warmly by more than half of the seventh years who had known him as a fellow student and headboy while he was a student at Hogwarts. After a few minutes of catch up, he ushered the class in.

He was more nervous about his seventh year class than he was during his previous first year class. It was relatively easy to establish a teacher/student relationship with the first year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs as they were much younger and were never his schoolmates. The seventh years were only four to five years younger than himself and were his schoolmates for two years. James was a like a brother to him and he was also quite close to Rex. He couldn't imagine himself asserting authority over them as their professor. Some of the seventh years had even called him Professor Teddy in a mocking tone like they didn't really view him as a professor.

Teddy had told the class that he was their friend Teddy outside of class but in class, he was Professor Lupin. They had agreed on it but he was still uncertain about how their teacher/student dynamic would play out. He knew they liked him as a person, but he supposed he would have to earn their respect as their teacher. His Uncle Harry had told him all about how his father had earned the respect of his students by being the best DADA teacher that they ever had. Teddy hoped to at least be almost as good as his father. He wrote his name on the blackboard, "Professor Edward Lyall Lupin".

"Alright class, this is your NEWTS year, so I expect a lot more focus from your class. Facing the Dark Arts is not something to be taken lightly. In a classroom environment, things are safer, but when you're actually out there facing the Dark Arts, you would pay dearly for a single slip. By the end of your seventh year, the aim is for you to be capable of tackling the Dark Arts in a realistic, tense environment." said Teddy.

"I've got your headmistress' permission to take you deep into the Forbidden Forest for you lessons. I'm even having a dragon brought in for your lesson on dragons," he added.

Half of the class including James looked excited. The other half of the class including Rex looked apprehensive.

"Nothing to be afraid of. We're going as a group. I'm a trained Auror. And we'll be accompanied by Professor Hagrid who has decades of experience being in the forest and handling a dragon," Teddy said convincingly.

The worried students relaxed as Teddy projected an image on the projector.

"Who can tell me what's wrong with the dog in this picture?"

James' arm shot up.

"Alright, James"

"It's under a Ferox Captus curse," said James.

"Very good! Take five points for Gryffindor. And what is a Ferox Captus curse?"

"A curse used to make an animal ferocious and mentally deranged to the point that it loses any reasoning and all it can think about is attacking people," James answered.

"Excellent! Take another five points for Gryffindor,"

"Can anyone else try to tell me the signs of an animal under the Ferox Captus curse?"

A Slytherin raised his hand.

"Yaxley," Teddy gestured him to answer.

"The dog in the picture has bulged out red eyes and look like they have a mad glint about them. His teeth also look sharper,"

"Very good! Take five points for Slytherin," said Teddy. "Another important sign to recognize is the growl of an animal under the Ferox Captus curse. Their growl is very distinguishable and you can easily distinguish it from the sound of a normal animal. This curse does not work on a dark creature," Teddy explained.

Teddy spent the lesson teaching the class the theory of how to recognize and tackle an animal under the Ferox Captus curse. There was a specific advanced spell needed to break the curse. After he dismissed the class, James and Rex stayed behind to talk to him.

"So, how did I do?" asked the former Gryffindor.

"You were excellent," said James.

"It's admirable how bold and confident you were up there on your first day," said Rex.

"Actually, I was putting up a confident front. On the inside, I thought I was about to have a nervous breakdown," Teddy confessed.

"It's fairly normal to be nervous on your first day. All things considered, you did a great job despite your nerves," said James.

The three boys chatted all the way to the Great Hall for lunch.

* * *

That Saturday morning, James Potter entered the Quidditch pitch to find hundreds of hopeful students in the stands waiting to try-out for the Quidditch team. He was supposed to oversee the selections as team captain. Existing members on the team included Matthew Potter who was the team's Chaser and reserve Seeker, Rex Weasley who was another one of the team's Chasers, fifth years Fred Weasley Jr. and George Weasley Jr. (sons of Fred Weasley and George Weasley) who were the team's Beaters, fifth year Cameron Wood who was the team's Keeper and James himself, who was the team's Seeker. One of their Chasers had just graduated, leaving an empty spot on the team. Aside from the six main team members, the team also had a reserve Chaser and a reserve Keeper. Their reserve Beater had also graduated. As captain, only James was guaranteed a spot on the team. The other members had to re-earn their spot on the team.

When they saw him, the existing members on the team got up and walked out of the stands towards him as he adjusted his glasses. Elizabeth Potter who was sitting with them remained seated at the stands with a book in her hands and her legs crossed. She was very attractive. Her dark brown hair which waved beautifully on the bottom like her grandmother Lily's was in between the shades of Harry's black and Hermione's brown. Elizabeth looked mostly like Hermione, but she had Harry green eyes and her nose was somewhat a combination of both their noses. She wore trendy square glasses though she only had a slight vision problem.

"Are you trying out for the team, Beth?" asked James with a slightly amused tone.

"No, I'm just here to watch," said Elizabeth.

"Well, you might be a distraction to a certain player on our team," said James, with a slight pointed glare at Cameron.

Both Elizabeth and Cameron blushed as Cameron looked away.

"That's ridiculous," said Elizabeth indignantly.

"The last game we played, Cameron got hit by a bludger because he was too BUSY waving at you," Matthew pointed out.

"Even some of our other players can't help but be distracted by you," said James, glaring at the reserve Chaser and reserve Keeper who were goggling at Elizabeth.

Both boys immediately took their eyes away from Elizabeth at his' glare.

James looked around at the hundreds of hopeful students. There were quite a number of female students from the other three houses who showed up just because they fancied one of the male players on the team (mostly James who was Captain). He had learnt his lesson from last year's tryouts. He wasn't taking any nonsense this year.

"Alright, first thing's first. If you're not from Gryffindor, clear out," he ordered. "You have no business here and I can't let you on the team even if I wanted to,"

"NOW" he added sternly as the non-Gryffindor students immediately cleared out at his tone.

As much as James didn't want to be rude, he had learned from last year that playing nice was the wrong way of handling people who treated the tryouts as a joke.

The first group of students he tried out was a group of girls. When James queued them to fly they did a weird dance routine with their brooms.

"Do I look like I'm trying people out for Britain's Got Talent?" James crossed his arms indignantly.

The girls gave him confused looks and James realized they wouldn't know about the muggle talent show.

"Off you go girls," he said.

"Would it be alright if we stay and watch?" asked one of the girls with a flirty tone.

"As long as you're quiet and not a disturbance," he answered, choosing to ignore her tone.

While the first group of girls only showed up to see James, the second group of boys he tried out clearly only showed up for a joke and to make a mockery of the tryouts. Both groups were not really serious about getting on the team.

"New rule," James shrieked at the crowd. "If you're here to fool around, you can leave right now because you're wasting my time and you're wasting yours. I have a sense of humor when it comes to most things, but on the Quidditch pitch, I mean business."

"The next person who treats their tryout as a joke would get house points deducted," he added.

"On what grounds?" asked a boy in the crowd.

"For being a nuisance on the Quidditch pitch" answered Rex in James' defense.

James was beginning to get frustrated and as Headboy, he had the authority to deduct house points from students who were not prefects. His firm warning to be serious about tryouts served its' purpose as no one else dared fool around during their tryout.

One group that he tried out was a group of second year boys. Out of five, he passed two of the boys through the initial screening phase.

"Sorry kids, but you still need to develop your flying skills," said James to the three rejected boys.

One of the rejected boys was Winston Abrith who seemed passionate and had the right spirit but was unable to stay on a broom for more than a few seconds without falling off.

"I love Quidditch and I always wanted to play but I'm never going to be good am I?" he asked dejectedly.

James felt bad for the kid.

"Winston right?"

The kid nodded.

"You have the right spirit. You're only in your second year. You still have time to make the team. There's loads of time for you to improve with practice," said James, putting a reassuring hand on the Winston's shoulder.

"You really think so?"

"With the right effort, determination, and confidence, anything's possible. Don't lose hope. Keep practicing and you could make the team by your fourth or fifth year," said James, encouragingly.

Winston brightened up.

By the end of the tryouts, all the returning team members managed to re-earn their spot on the Quidditch team. James managed to find a new reserve Beater. He also found a really good new Chaser, Katrina Wakefield. Katrina had managed to beat their reserve Chaser for the spot. However, this was to the dismay of fifth year Darrel Girbly who was also eyeing the spot. Darrell had passed the initial flying test phase but was beaten out by Katrina and their reserve Chaser in the second phase.

"Why was she selected instead of me?" asked Darrel indignantly, pointing towards Katrina.

"Because she was the best during the tryouts," said James.

"I beg to differ. A girl, better than me? I have more talent than that girl and your reserve," Darrell puffed his chest up.

"Sorry Girbly. I don't mean to offend you but Wakefield and Trevor were better than you," said James frankly.

"You mean according to you. What makes you the best judge?" asked Darrel.

"I have the authority as I was made Team Captain. If you have a problem with my judgment you can take it up with Professor Longbottom or Professor McGonagall. They're the only ones with authority to overwrite me when it comes to the team," James shrugged.

"You're the only who says I'm not good enough," said Darrel.

"No, he's not. Sorry mate, but you aren't as good as you think," said Rex, as the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps you could work on your skills and make the team next year. If our reserve is unavailable or if two of our Chasers are unavailable, I'll consider letting you fill in," James offered.

"Don't tell me I need to work on my skills. You clearly know nothing about talent"

"No, it's you who doesn't have much talent," said Matthew.

"I won't be spoken to …"

"Look Gribly, why don't you go tryout for a team that lies to you," James cut him off.

Gribly stormed off in a rage.

"You share a dorm with him?" Matthew asked Cameron.

"Unfortunately," said Cameron.

James let out an exasperated sigh. He had to deal with all sorts of people during tryouts.

"Alright, tryouts are over. You may be all exit the pitch," James called out to the crowd and the Gryffindors emptied the Quidditch pitch.

**=to be continued=**

**A/N: Please, please review, so that I know if I need to change or improve anything. Teddy's middle name is Lyall instead of Remus in my story, because I prefer the idea that he's named after both his grandfathers. Sorry for the changed. It's just his middle name anyways. I decided to make James have glasses after all.**


End file.
